Police issues a warning as Emotet virus hits Michigan State

Michigan, a Midwestern State of U.S., has been hit by Emotet virus. A warning has been issued by the Michigan State Police (MSP) to the residents of Michigan about the malicious email scam, which is being circulated throughout the State.

As per Cyber Command Center of the Michigan State Police, recently there has been an upsurge in the fraudulent emails containing the malicious attachments or links that are sent to the businesses and individuals throughout the Michigan State.

The recent fraudulent emails often have the subject lines that consist the terms such as "receipt" or "invoice". As per a news release, these emails come with a link or an attachment for downloading a PDF, Microsoft Excel or Word document that contains malware. The malware in the downloaded PDF, Microsoft Excel or Word document has been identified as Emotet virus recently. Emotet has been recognized as an advanced and modular banking Trojan, which mainly functions as a dropper or a downloader of the other banking Trojans. In the current times, Emotet continues as one of the most destructive and costliest malware that is affecting the SLTT (state, local, tribal, and territorial) governments along with the public and private sector. Moreover, the worm-like features of Emotet results in spreading network-wide infection within no time that is very difficult to combat.

As soon as the Emotet virus infects a network, it functions to steal the contact information from the email address book maintained by the email recipient. Spoofed emails are then sent by the scammer to the contacts of the email recipient. Various other side-effects of this malware include encryption of the user files, stealing of banking information or passwords, and spreading of this virus to various other computers that might be connected with the network of the user.

Cyber Command Center has recommended being observant and careful while screening all the emails prior to opening any attachments or clicking links given in the emails. The emails with embedded web links or attachments should always be dealt with care till recipient verifies the authenticity of that email. Besides, the users should also consider whether they are expecting any document or email from that sender before opening attachments or clicking links.

» SPAMfighter News - 2/26/2019